PRINCIPALS’ DECISION-MAKING STYLES AS PREDICTORS OF TEACHERS’ JOB ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study determined principals' decision-making styles as predictors of teachers' job engagement in public secondary schools in Enugu State. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 15,321 teachers from the 296 public secondary schools in Enugu State. The sample for this study consisted of 767 teachers, selected using a proportionate stratified sampling technique. Two sets of instruments titled "Principals' Decision-Making Styles Questionnaire (PDMSQ)" and "Teachers' Job Engagement Questionnaire (TJEQ)" were used for data collection. The instruments were face-validated by three experts: two from the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one from the Department of Educational Foundations, Measurement and Evaluation Unit, Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the instruments' internal consistency, yielding overall coefficients of 0.79 for PDMSQ and 0.81 for TJEQ. The researcher, together with five research assistants, collected data for the study using the direct approach, achieving a 98% return rate. Simple regression was used to answer the research questions and test hypotheses. The study's findings revealed, among others, that principals' dependent and rational decision-making styles are strong and significant predictors of teachers' job satisfaction in public secondary schools in Enugu State. Further results showed that principals' avoiding decision-making style is a fair and significant predictor of teachers' job satisfaction in public secondary schools in Enugu State. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the Enugu State Post Primary School Management Board should organize annual seminars for principals to share their experiences and knowledge on when and how to use an avoiding decision-making style to improve teachers' job engagement.